About RSC06
Rethinking Sustainable Construction 2006 (RSC06) is an international conference and workshop being organized to determine the future direction of high-performance green buildings around the world. This conference will be unlike any other meeting about green buildings and sustainable construction because it will focus not on present best practices, but on the path to green buildings 10 to 50 years into the future.
RSC06 will address the complex range of issues that face designers, product manufacturers, builders and policymakers in developing next-generation green buildings. Most importantly, it is intended as a meeting of interested parties from around the world to explore the cutting-edge of this discipline, the ideal state of green buildings, and the need for research, technologies, methods, and tools that can assist the international community in evolving to advanced green buildings and products.
To achieve this, RSC06 will provide the opportunity for presentations, papers, research, ideas, extensive discussion, and collaboration to define future directions. At the conclusion of the conference a roadmap or summary of the outcomes will be provided for use as a planning document.
To accommodate discussion and interaction, attendance will be limited and priority will be given to the key stakeholders committed to next-generation green buildings: those who are motivated to present ideas and engage in a dialogue to push the art and science of green building forward.
How far we have come
In the 10 years since the First International Conference on Sustainable Construction was held in Tampa, Florida, USA, in 1994, the worldwide green building movement has emerged as a powerful force showing sustainability can be a reality-not just rhetoric.
Now it is time to translate that success into further innovation and improvement.
Today's high-performance green buildings are a significant improvement over the conventional buildings of the past. They consume significantly less energy, materials, and water; provide healthy living and working environments; and greatly improve the quality of the built environment.
Although notable progress has been made in building performance, for the most part contemporary green buildings use existing materials and products; design approaches, and construction delivery systems. Ecological design, perhaps the key concept in creating high-performance buildings, is in its infancy and sorely needs articulation to be able to create truly green buildings. The concept of green building materials needs to be better defined and methods for their evaluation need to be developed.
The role of nature in buildings is another one of the key areas needing development for the future of green buildings. Natural systems can provide heating and cooling, wastewater processing, stormwater uptake, food production, and a range of other services for the built environment.
New energy strategies, such as ground-coupling, radiant cooling and advanced photovoltaic systems are needed to dramatically lower energy consumption and increase the use of renewable energy systems. Closing materials loops by designing buildings for deconstruction and developing disassemblable building products with recyclable materials is a barely addressed issue in the context of today's green buildings.
Clearly an enormous amount of work needs to be accomplished to set the course for the future of environmentally friendly construction.
